Reading the Riot Boards

Following the riot on June 15, 2011 after the Vancouver Canucks lost game seven of the Stanley Cup finals, broken windows on downtown businesses were hastily boarded up with sheets of plywood. The day after the riot fans and others met to clean up the city and began to leave messages on the boards - condemning the violence and looting, professing their love for the city, and stating “this is not the real Vancouver”. The MOV received 86 of the boards for its permanent collection. Opening June 15, 2012, the MOV will exhibit 15 the boards in the MOV Studio.

What began as a utilitarian reaction to broken windows grew into an open source work of art, with messages from thousands of Vancouverites and visitors to the city. At a time when world media fixed on Vancouver’s wrongs, residents-as-authors and as-artists used the riot boards to examine our collective conscience, encourage reconciliation, address the city’s social ills, and remind us that hope persists.

All are welcome to the opening night dialogue to take place on Friday, June 15.

Commemorative T-shirts and Tote bags
To commemorate the positive clean-up response of Vancouverites following the riots, we've produced two riot-board inspired items, a t-shirt and a tote bag. Items can be purchased in Vancouver at The Latest Scoop or at Book'Mark, the VPL central branch store.

June 15, 2012 / 6:30 PM

Is This Vancouver? Reflections on the 2011 Hockey Riot Boards

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The Stanley Cup Riots of June 15, 2011 were a pivotal moment in Vancouver’s civic history.

A year later, we invite Vancouverites to join us in dialogue with Vancouver playwright Kevin Loring, City Councillor Andrea Reimer, and Vancouver photographer Maurice Li, in this multi-faceted examination of how the Riots altered our collective conscience, spurred new civic conversations, and changed how Vancouverites see themselves and each other. That is, we invite you to pause, reflect, and share in a discussion that asks: “Is this Vancouver?”

This roundtable will include a visual street-view storytelling of events by Maurice Li, excerpts from “The Thin Veneer” a play written as Loring’s response to the riots, and policy insights from Councillor Reimer. A moderated Q&A and closer look at selected boards installed in the MOV Studio will follow.

Kevin Loring is the recipient of the 2009 Governor General’s Award in Drama. "The Thin Veneer" is Loring's response to the 2011 Stanley Cup riot. This profoundly beautiful play investigates who we are as Vancouverites.

Andrea Reimer was elected to Vancouver City Council in 2008. Her appointments include Chair, Standing Committee on Planning and Environment; Greenest City Action Team; Vancouver Economic Development Commission. Andrea is a fourth generation British Columbian who lives right across from her father’s family home at Trout Lake on Vancouver’s east side.

Maurice Li is a Vancouver-based photographer and visual storyteller. Maurice’s work is informed by his passion for commercial, documentary, and fine art work that focuses on the urban form, cultural narrative, and experiential travel.